i tried some beets and onions last winter/spring, without much luck. I got a few of both, but they were never larger than about an inch in diameter.

9/17/2012 12:49:33 PM

Same here with the onions. I still ate some of them, and sure enough they tasted like onions. But they didn't get anywhere near the size they should have. I have a feeling it's because my soil is not loose enough.

9/17/2012 12:51:04 PM

I planted a 2 or 3 seeds in each hole, and so most had 2 or 3 sprouts in the same place. I talked to an old farmer who said they won't grow to the proper size if you plant them too close together, he said they can "sense" each other and won't grow if they're too close. FWIW.

9/17/2012 12:54:03 PM

^ that would make sense, because I planted them pretty much right on top of each other. I will have to try spacing them out more next year.

9/17/2012 12:57:23 PM

large onions are a two year crop. if you started with actual seeds, those boiler size ones are the best you can get the first year. if they were planted close and stunted, you have sets or "pearl onions". sets can be planted kind of closely and thinned for green onions in the spring, letting the biggest and best grow for the rest of the season.


I just buy sets, they're cheap enough.


beets suck when it's warm at all. stick to "swiss chard" varieties for salad and stuff.

9/19/2012 3:06:19 PM

the carrots and onions I planted were small and not worth all of the time and space.

My tomatoes have been amazing - they are still producing tons of tomatoes and I only had two plants. they've gotten so big they completely overgrew their cages and toppled over so I basically have shrub sized tomato "bushes" and I don't even have to water them - they just keep producing.

all in all, the basil and tomatoes were by far what I used the most and what grew the best.

9/25/2012 3:53:18 AM

I think I have decided to hold off on the cool weather veggies until the spring. I am planting them from seed, and I fear that it is way too late to start. Although I have already tilled the garden, so I may throw some lettuce seeds out there just to see if anything comes up.

9/25/2012 8:21:12 AM

^ Worst case you get baby salad greens

9/25/2012 8:31:02 AM

I'm still getting a few tomatoes. My eggplants are doing real well now. Jalapenos, bell peppers and okra are tapering off.

I just put seedlings in the ground this weekend, after letting them grow in pots for a little while: several kinds of lettuce (including romaine and butter), collards, cauliflower, broccoli, and choi. I did choi last spring, and it did great. I'd never had choi before, and Iwas pleasantly surprised. I only had two plants, but was enough to make a side of choi every few nights, and it was tasty and real easy to cook (spice and saute). Hopefully it'll do that well this the fall.

[Edited on September 25, 2012 at 1:50 PM. Reason : ]

9/25/2012 1:33:41 PM

Ordered a Sun Joe lawn mower on weekend.

9/25/2012 1:52:32 PM

that'll come in handy for gardening

9/25/2012 2:07:04 PM

Quote :

"Lettuce can't take very cold weather, but the collards should do ok. They supposedly taste better after the first frost. A couple years ago I had some collards that lived through an inch or two of snow on top of them."

Some lettuce can't take cold weather, but then again some can. We had a planter with lettuce in it up on the rail of our deck. A couple of the heads lived well into the winter, and even got snowed on and still survived. Kind of scraggly at that point but we were curious what it could take--it can survive a lot, turns out. Probably helps that the soil didn't frost hard because it was in a planter, but it lived through snow.

9/25/2012 2:24:39 PM

never too late to plant kale or collards!

9/27/2012 5:05:51 PM

Planted 8 collard seedlings today.

9/27/2012 6:17:32 PM

Where'd you buy them?

9/27/2012 6:18:57 PM

Lowes

Wasn't planning on doing anything, but hubby really wanted me to try collards. We went for grass seed, and they had some on a rack on the side walk so I got a pack of 9. One didn't germinate so 8 it is!

9/27/2012 7:03:39 PM

Oh nice. I'll have to stop by there this weekend. I don't have high hopes for my seeds since the damn squirrels keep trying to dig them out

9/28/2012 8:52:14 AM

Saw something growing in my compost pile that I didn't recognize. So I pulled it up and attached was a potato about the size of a baseball!

9/30/2012 3:10:14 PM

haha, i dug collards from under 2 feet of snow at new years last year and ate em.

9/30/2012 8:25:59 PM

Anybody getting anything from their fall gardens?

I'm still getting eggplants, and I should have some collards, choi, romaine and butter lettuce real soon. Still waiting on the broccoli and cauliflower.

10/23/2012 11:07:20 AM

Stuck a fruit tree fertilizer stick in my meyer lemon tree container (same one I stuck in it during the spring)...and it fucking killed the tree!

I had like a dozen good lemons on that tree. Not happy at all. I was babying the shit out of that tree hoping it would one day be the crown jewel in my yard. Kinda depressing...

10/23/2012 11:20:54 AM

Anybody having any winter luck?

I'm getting lots of different kind of lettuce, my bok choy is coming in quick and thick, and i think my broccoli is about ready to harvest. Collards are there, but not coming in quite as full as in the past. The Cauliflower plants are growing, but there's no cauliflower on them.

The lettuce and bok choy didn't too well on the nights that it got down below freezing, don't think they'll be able to take too many nights like that.

12/10/2012 12:19:49 PM

My lettuce, radishes, and rutabagas seem to be doing well. The cabbages and broccoli are slowly growing but I'm starting to wonder if they were just set in too late.

Also this weather is throwing things out of whack. I already have some daffodils blooming and one of my blueberry bushes has buds on it

12/10/2012 12:26:44 PM

I haven't even planted my bulbs yet, but I think I will freeze them first before going in the ground.

I have daffodils and tulips. And someone may or may not have brought me either black or royal blue tulips back from holland.

12/10/2012 12:40:28 PM

I really wish I could find some lycoris bulbs that weren't ridiculously expensive. I don't understand why they're sold for $4 PER BULB in stores around here. Once establishes they pretty much grow like weeds.

12/10/2012 12:56:41 PM

I sowed some spinach, lettuce and arugula seeds but they are taking their sweet ass time growing. I did plant them in a new location this year so who knows.

12/10/2012 6:47:27 PM

I've got a couple of fig trees and 4 peach trees in pots if anyone wants one. call it $5 each.

12/11/2012 10:01:16 PM

What kind of figs?

12/12/2012 8:26:45 AM

just try to find this field, wolfpackgrrr...






plant delights sells weird ones. and i think you should try to get in on the Rhodophiala bifida on this site for next year
http://www.southernbulbs.com/fall-bulbs-fall/

12/12/2012 3:54:35 PM

Brown turkey

12/12/2012 9:59:03 PM

^^ Oooh yes thanks for the link!

And yeah, if I had realized how difficult it was going to be to find lycoris bulbs around here, I would have dug a bunch of back when I saw this field a few years ago



[Edited on December 13, 2012 at 8:25 AM. Reason : d]

12/13/2012 8:25:24 AM

I've got to move my garden next year. It turns out that our current garden is directly over top of our septic leach field. I guess this explains why our garden does so well, but it turns out that it's been causing issues with our septic system. So I've torn down the fence and will be leveling out the dirt this weekend to plant grass on it.

I figure I will just relocate the garden about 25 yards further up in my yard. Not looking forward to all of this, but at least it will give me the kick in the ass I need to build a permanent fence around it.

12/13/2012 10:41:24 AM

Aww man that sucks. But at least you found out now and not after everyone got sick from something leeching from the septic

12/13/2012 11:08:45 AM

Nah, by the time water gets to the leach field it's pretty much just gray water. Makes a great fertilizer though, apparently.

12/13/2012 11:13:24 AM

the peaches are elberta...as in, yellow flesh, freestone.

12/13/2012 10:50:40 PM